Button.



IVI. KOPPELMN.

BUTTON.

APPLICATION FILED 0cT.2,1914.

31913994295, Patented May l1, 1915.

Attest: inventor:

1HE MORRIS PETERS Ca, PHOTOLITHO., WASHINGTON, D, C.

narran srarns rarnnr ernten.

MORRIS KOPPELIVIAN, 0F NEW YORK, N. Y.

BUTTON.

Application filed October 2, 1914.

T0 all whom t may concern Be it known that l, Monnis KOPPELMAN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the borough of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings, city and State of New York, have invented new and useful mprovements in Buttons, of which the following is a specification.

The improvements relate to buttons, and particularly to buttons provided with means whereby they may be attached to garments or other articles in connection with which they are to be used without the use of thread or other fastening means than that forming a part of the button itself.

The objects of the improvements are, among others, to provide a button of this character of such simple, strong and durable construction and effective operation that it may be cheaply made, used for practically all the various purposes for which buttons are used, applied to the garment or other article quickly and by unskilled operatives, and which when so applied and used will be secure and effective and incapable of accidental detachment under any and all conditions of use; to so construct the button that the parts by which it is attached and held are invisible, and will give the desired flexibility and the necessary hold on the goods without defacing them or giving any suggestion of the character of the fastening to the casual observer; and to so arrange and construct the same that it may be used in connection with button facings of various character.

l am aware that many devices designed to accomplish the objects of the present im provements have been made, and that some of them are shown in United States and other Letters Patent, but it is a well known fact that, although such a device has long been wanted, the practice of using buttons adapted to be sewn on is still almost universal. Some of the reasons for this are that the prior devices are expensive to make, unsightly in appearance or diflicult to handle, are insecure in their attachment, or incapable of being used with the various kinds of buttons on the market. @ne or more of these objections applies to each of the de vices of the prior art known to me; and it is to overcome these objectionable features that the present improvements are designed.

The improvements consist in the construc- Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented May Ell, MM5.

serien No. 864,555.

tion, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

ln the said drawings, Figure l is a plan of the back of a button embodying the improvements. Fig. 2 is a vertical section on vthe line 22 of Fig. l looking in the direction indicated by the arrow. Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line 3 3 of Fig. l looking in the direction indicated by the arrow.

The back plate A is preferably made of metal, and may be secured to the button proper by any suitable means. In the drawings the button proper B is made of vege table ivory or other similar material and is provided with an annular kerf B in its back running around inside its outer edge, and the back plate is secured to the said button proper by having its annular flange A forced into this kerf and upset so that it cannot be withdrawn.

The fastening hook C is secured to the back A by means of its angularly turned and horizontally disposed end C2 which is passed through loops A2 formed by stamping up the metal, and acts as a hinge, to permit the movement of the said hook in a plane at right angles to the plane of the back and to prevent free lateral movement thereof. The outer end C of the hook is turned to a position approximately parallel with the back so that it will lie against the inner surface of said back and thus obviate the necessity of having any considerable space between the back and the button proper, as well as providing a maximum surface of contact and consequent resistance of the metal of the back to stress tending to pull the said portion of the hook through. lt is slightly inclined, however, to the plane of the back plate A when in its normal position and this tends to prevent it slipping easily through the jaws in the said plate. The extreme end of hook is pointed so that it may be easily passed through the cloth or other fabric t'o which it is applied.

The spring jaws through which the end C passes consist of the tongues D, D which are formed by slitting the metal of the back A and expanding it slightly and also stamping it in so as to form a recess and a projection on the outer side of the back and a reverse projection and recess on the inner side. rlhe end C is pressed against the spring jaw D unitl it snaps through between the jaws. Y hook mustV rst llex laterally to a slight extent by sliding down the raised part ofthe jaw D, and consequently when it snaps through the jaws and is released it springs to a position away from the said jaws and in the recess on' depression of the jaw D so that it will not accidentally slip through the opening of the jaws and be released when a pull is exerted on the button. The convexity of the jaws on the inside of the back plate at the opening also serves to keep the end C from being pulled through the jaws, since the tendency of the said end will be to slip off to one side if by any chance it is fiexed sidewise so as to strike the said.

jaws when a pull is exerted on the button. In this manner a double guard is provided against the accidental liberation of the hook end, and a suflicient bearing on the back plate to resist all the strains of use is also provided. 'Ihe plate has an aperture A at right angles to the end of the hook C and adjacent to the jaws through which the curved portion of the hook which oins the horizontal end C and the loop may pass.

The opening in the aws D, D is substantially parallel with the hook C in its normal v position, and therefore when the hook is flexed sidewise to bring it to said opening its end C will be at a slight angle to the said opening. This arrangement also tends to prevent the hook accidentally passing ou through the j aws.

An important feature o-f the invention, and one which alone renders it superior to all similar devices is the arrangement which permits the hook to oscillate freely with respect to the button proper after the button vis attached to the cloth without becoming disconnected, even when the oscillating movement is accompanied by a pull; and a greater latitude of movement of this kind may be provided for if desired by so constructing the connection of the end of the hook opposite the prong that it will permit a certain limited amount of play. In such a construction, however, provision should be made for holding the hook against material lateral movement while it is being passed through the material and permitting it to have such movement when it is brought up to a horizontal position, as the lateral substantial rigidity of the hook contributes materially to the important result of enabling the user to attach and detach the button without taking hold of the pin with the fingers or using a tool or implement of any kind, and by a comparatively simple manipulation of the button proper, which is of course easily held in the fingers. This is also facilitated by the arrangement which causes the metal of the plate A at the hook end of the hinge to check'the backward movement of the hook, so that it may be In order to do this theA forced through the material while the button is held approximately parallel with the Vmaterial. v

In use it is only necessary to take hold of the button with the fastening hook depending from its hinge and its outer end' ment and also force it through the jaws.v

rIlhe button is then permanently fastened to the goods and cannot be removed therefrom accidentally by any ordinary strain of use. It is often desirable, however, and sometimes necessary to remove the buttons of a garment or other article, as for instance when the button is accidentally attachedat the wrong place or when it is desired to make a garment larger or smaller, and it is therefore very important that means for detaching the button be provided. VViththis device the buttonmay be quickly detached without injury to it or to the material with which it is connected by pressing the hook laterally against the extreme inwardly projecting end of the jaw D and then exerting a pull to pass the end C through between the jaws, and then withdrawing the hook from the material. Vith a little practice this may bey accomplished by exerting a twist and a slight pull on the button proper until the horizontal end of the hook strikes the end of the jaw Dk and then giving it a quick additional pull to pass it through theV jaws.

It will be apparent that some of the details of construction may be modified, and that other parts performing the same functions in substantially the same manner may be substituted for those herein described and claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention, and that the invention herein claimed is not limited to these details of construction.

I claim:

1. In a device of the character set forth,

lit

the combination with al plate, of a hook journaled and held against substantial lateral play while capable of swinging movement toward and fromthe plate, and oppositely extending jaws on the plate and disposed transversely of the free end of the hook, forming between them an entrance throat that is atone side of the plane of normal movement of the hook, whereby said hook must be laterally flexed to be passed therethrough, one of said jaws having a portion inwardly inclined with respect to the plate, and providing means whereby pressure on the hook in the direction of the plate causes it to flex laterally and pass through the jaws.

2. A device of the character set forth, comprising a button having a recess in its back, a resilient hook adapted to be passed through the material of a garment and then engaged in said recess, a pivot mounting for connecting one end of the hook to the but ton, said mounting permitting the hook to swing toward and from the button but holding it from free lateral play, and a jaw for holding the free end of the hook in the recess, said jaw being formed to automatically flex the hook laterally out of its normal path and against its resilient action, toward the free edge of the jaw until said edge is passed, when said hook is pressed inwardly against said jaw in its normal path of movement, and said hook automatically returning laterally by said resiliency to a position beneath the jaw.

3. In a device of the character set forth, the combination with a plate, of a hook journaled at one end thereon and being held against substantial lateral play, while capable of swinging movement toward and from the plate, and oppositely extending jaws cut from the plate and disposed transversely of the free end of the hook forming between them an entrance throat that is at one side of the plane of normal movement of the hook, whereby said hook must be laterally liexed to be passed therethrough, one of the jaws constituting holding means for the hook and the other acting as a guard for the throat.

4. In a device of the character set forth, the combination with a plate, of a hook journaled at one end thereon, and held against substantial lateral play while capable of swinging movement toward and from the plate, and oppositely extending jaws cut from the plate and disposed transversely of the free end of the hook, forming between them an entrance throat that is at one side of the plane of normal movement of the hook, whereby said hook must be laterally flexed to be passed therethrough, one of said jaws having its free portion inwardly inclined with respect to the plate, and one jaw extending across the plane of movement of the hook and constituting holding' means for the hook, the other terminating short of said plane and acting as a guard for the throat.

Witness my hand this 25th day of September, 1914, at the city of New York, in the county and State of New York.

MORRIS KOPPELMAN.

Witnesses:

MARY H. LEWIS, HELEN V. FITZPATRICK.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington,'D. C. 

